The Twins Need to Make Room for Walker Jenkins Before the Trade Deadline

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

The Twins are approaching one of the most important stretches of their season. With the club battling for an American League Wild Card spot, every roster decision carries more weight than it did in April or May. The front office is expected to spend the next several days evaluating outside additions, particularly for a bullpen that has struggled throughout the year.

However, the biggest offensive addition available to Minnesota may already be wearing a St. Paul Saints uniform. Walker Jenkins has done everything the organization could reasonably ask since returning from injury. Instead of waiting for a perfect opening, the Twins should be finding a way to get one of baseball's best prospects into their lineup before the MLB Trade Deadline.

Jenkins returned to Triple-A roughly a month ago, after recovering from the shoulder injury he suffered crashing into the outfield wall while making a catch. Since coming back, he has looked every bit like the hitter scouts expected when Minnesota selected him fifth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Over the last 28 days, Jenkins owns a .929 OPS. Over the last week, he's been even better, posting a .643 slugging percentage and a 1.055 OPS. Those numbers become even more impressive when considering the context. Jenkins is accomplishing all of this during his age-21 season, while facing competition that is more than five years older on average in the International League. At some point, there isn't much more for him to prove.

This week's Baseball America profile offered another encouraging glimpse into why evaluators remain so bullish on Jenkins. One of the biggest takeaways centered on his elite swing decisions and bat-to-ball ability against pitches in the strike zone. He has just seven whiffs against four-seam fastballs all season, and nearly all of those swings came on elevated pitches that finished above the strike zone. That type of zone control isn't common, especially for a player this young.

Major-league pitchers will undoubtedly challenge him differently. Fastballs won't come nearly as often once opponents recognize his ability to handle velocity. Instead, he'll need to adjust to a steady diet of breaking balls and off-speed pitches. Still, the underlying skills suggest the transition could happen quicker than many rookie debuts. Jenkins doesn't chase often, rarely misses pitches he should hit, and consistently controls the strike zone. Those traits tend to translate regardless of level.

The frustrating part is that the Twins don't appear to have a natural opening for him. Byron Buxton returned from the injured list earlier this week, prompting Minnesota to option infielder Tristan Gray back to Triple-A. The club is also carrying three catchers after Ryan Jeffers returned from injury. Because Alex Jackson is out of minor-league options, the Twins understandably didn't want to risk losing him on waivers.

That leaves a crowded bench featuring Victor Caratini, Alex Jackson, Austin Martin, and Alan Roden. Martin and Roden are the only players with minor-league options remaining, making them the easiest roster moves if Minnesota chooses to promote Jenkins. As things currently stand, though, it feels like Jenkins's path requires someone else getting hurt.

That shouldn't be the standard. The Twins have reached the point in the season where roster spots should be earned by performance, not protected by circumstance. Martin has struggled to provide much offensive impact recently, posting a .583 OPS over the last two weeks despite being deployed primarily in favorable platoon matchups. His versatility remains valuable, but if Minnesota is searching for ways to inject more offense into a lineup fighting for a postseason berth, Jenkins offers a significantly higher ceiling.

Replacing Martin with Jenkins wouldn't solve every offensive concern overnight. It would, however, give the Twins another hitter capable of changing games instead of simply filling innings. Waiting for an injury to create an opening feels unnecessarily passive.

If Minnesota believes Jenkins is one of the organization's cornerstone players (and every indication suggests they do), there is value in letting him experience the major leagues before the trade deadline. It gives him time to adjust before September, allows the coaching staff to evaluate where he fits best, and provides the front office with a better understanding of what additional moves might still be necessary.

The Twins are searching for ways to improve their roster over the next week. External additions may grab the headlines, but the organization already has one of its most talented players waiting just down Interstate 94. The challenge isn't determining whether Jenkins is ready. It's deciding whether the Twins are willing to make room for him before someone else forces the decision.

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Should the Twins look to promote Jenkins? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[HarmonK03]

Send Roden down and bring up Jenkins.  Martin has more flexibility than Roden and he shouldn't be holding Jenkins back.  

[thelanges5]

They should give Jenkins a Pratt-like contract. 

[mike8791]

Another positive in bringing up Jenkins - it would make trading Larnach more palatable.  I previously thought if the FO wanted to stay competitive, they could only afford to trade one of Larnach or Jeffers.  Our offense has too many holes to trade both.  Jeffers should be traded(unless Twins can resign him which at this point is a non-starter), but with Jenkins slotted in LF or RF, Jenkins and Roden could fill in well at the corners.  Of course, trading makes sense only if the Twins obtained near major league prospects.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

This is a simple no.  Jenkins is a Scott Boras client so an extension is dead at arrival.  We have 6 years of Jenkins and unless Jenkins is willing to take a discounted offer he will be traded or sign elsewhere.   

[jmlease1]

Twins are almost certainly going to trade a catcher at or before the deadline; if they don't arrest this losing streak, I think it will be Jeffers. If they do, and stay in the race for at least a WC, then Jackson will go out. Is that enough of an opening for Jenkins? I would say no. They would also need to send either Bell or Larnach out as well (or both); if it's just Bell, then Larnach slides in to more of a DH role. If it's Larnach, then Jenkins can slot in one of the corners (I think I might slide Keaschall to left and Jenkins in right, but it's more about having the PT). If it's both (which likely happens if the team continues to pull a 2025 and crap the bed before the deadline) then there's plenty of room and PT for Jenkins and Roden.

But it's not happening until after the deadline unless the Twins start really dealing in advance. Which is ok; a couple of weeks won't matter for Jenkins. But there's simply no way this franchise trades control of an asset for 2 more weeks of a look at Jenkins.

[jmlease1]

3 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

This is a simple no.  Jenkins is a Scott Boras client so an extension is dead at arrival.  We have 6 years of Jenkins and unless Jenkins is willing to take a discounted offer he will be traded or sign elsewhere.   

While it's true that Boras prefers to take his clients to FA, it's not a guarantee. 1) we don't know what the next CBA will look like, and that will impact any decision; 2) the player still gets to make the final call; 3) players change agents; 4) the Twins have signed Boras clients before, and correctly aren't afraid of dealing with his agency; 5) in 6 years Boras will be 79. He's not immortal.

But yes, there's little chance he signs any kind of extension right now: unless he blew his signing bonus (no evidence of that) he's already got money and despite some injury issues there's not much holding him back from much bigger paydays.

[terrydactyls]

10 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Twins are almost certainly going to trade a catcher at or before the deadline; if they don't arrest this losing streak, I think it will be Jeffers. If they do, and stay in the race for at least a WC, then Jackson will go out. Is that enough of an opening for Jenkins? I would say no. They would also need to send either Bell or Larnach out as well (or both); if it's just Bell, then Larnach slides in to more of a DH role. If it's Larnach, then Jenkins can slot in one of the corners (I think I might slide Keaschall to left and Jenkins in right, but it's more about having the PT). If it's both (which likely happens if the team continues to pull a 2025 and crap the bed before the deadline) then there's plenty of room and PT for Jenkins and Roden.

But it's not happening until after the deadline unless the Twins start really dealing in advance. Which is ok; a couple of weeks won't matter for Jenkins. But there's simply no way this franchise trades control of an asset for 2 more weeks of a look at Jenkins.

There is only one situation where the Twins lose control of an asset: they try to sneak Jackson through waivers.  Roden and Martin have options.  Bring Jenkins up now and start the youth movement.  To me, the only move is to trade everyone with an expiring contract or who won't agree to a extension.  Trade them all for MLB-ready pitching.

[Patzky]

16 minutes ago, mike8791 said:

Another positive in bringing up Jenkins - it would make trading Larnach more palatable.  I previously thought if the FO wanted to stay competitive, they could only afford to trade one of Larnach or Jeffers.  Our offense has too many holes to trade both.  Jeffers should be traded(unless Twins can resign him which at this point is a non-starter), but with Jenkins slotted in LF or RF, Jenkins and Roden could fill in well at the corners.  Of course, trading makes sense only if the Twins obtained near major league prospects.

A Larnach trade or Martin demotion makes the Jenkins move easy, if that's what the braintrust wants.  The fact it hasn't happened tells me that it's not what they want right now. You could do both of the above and recall Gabby Gonzalez too, if Emmy is perpetually not able to play. Finally Culpeper up and Roden down (or Kriedler but he's a fan favorite) would saturate the lineup with kids.

 

Could they continue a .500 winning percentage? It's not so much to ask, especially with Sands and Anderson imminent in the pen. Lewis-Kriedler-Culpepper-Lee on the dirt with Buck, Keaschall, Jenkins in the OF Clemens can spell anyone and Bell can continue to DH if he remains on the team  I feel that's a .500 lineup. . 

[DJL44]

Jenkins has 4 HR at AAA. His OPS at that level is lower than Fedko, Sabato, Roden, Wallner and Ryan Kreidler. 
 

He is doing a lot of things well, but one good week doesn’t make him ready for the majors.

[Patzky]

10 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

While it's true that Boras prefers to take his clients to FA, it's not a guarantee. 1) we don't know what the next CBA will look like, and that will impact any decision; 2) the player still gets to make the final call; 3) players change agents; 4) the Twins have signed Boras clients before, and correctly aren't afraid of dealing with his agency; 5) in 6 years Boras will be 79. He's not immortal.

But yes, there's little chance he signs any kind of extension right now: unless he blew his signing bonus (no evidence of that) he's already got money and despite some injury issues there's not much holding him back from much bigger paydays.

5) Waiting for villains to die is bad karma and never works.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

10 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

While it's true that Boras prefers to take his clients to FA, it's not a guarantee. 1) we don't know what the next CBA will look like, and that will impact any decision; 2) the player still gets to make the final call; 3) players change agents; 4) the Twins have signed Boras clients before, and correctly aren't afraid of dealing with his agency; 5) in 6 years Boras will be 79. He's not immortal.

But yes, there's little chance he signs any kind of extension right now: unless he blew his signing bonus (no evidence of that) he's already got money and despite some injury issues there's not much holding him back from much bigger paydays.

You have a handful of clients that have taken extensions at various points.  The most reason and really only one in the last 7 years is Pratt.  Otherwise its been almost exclusively wait until free agency.  This article is we need to sign him to an extension in the next 2 weeks before the deadline.  I see the odds of this being 0% and would gladly make a bet with anyone thinking he will sign an extension in the next two weeks with Boras's aversion.   Boras only signs an extension if his client says thats what they want.  

[Jeff K]

Bring him up now.  It looks like the Twins are waiting for a trade to open a slot for him, but they should get him up now.  

[jimmyc]

They will appropriately leave him off the 40-man roster.  Anyone on the 40-man will be unable to play in the minors during the impending MLB strike next spring.  More than many others, he needs to play baseball.

[NYCTK]

7 minutes ago, Patzky said:

5) Waiting for villains to die is bad karma and never works.

I don't understand why Boras is painted as a villain. Sure, I wouldn't want to be across the negotiating table from him, but that's not any fans concern. 

He does his job well and upsets owners. That's a win in my book. 

[HarmonK03]

56 minutes ago, mike8791 said:

Jenkins and Roden could fill in well at the corners. 

Why would Roden play the other corner spot over Keaschall who has earned it.  Roden has not hit in the majors and the eye test says he is average on defense.  Roden may be caught up in a numbers game because he has not been able to show much in his short time in the majors with either us or Toronto.  But I am not sure where he gets playing time without moving someone either via trade or moving someone to the bench.  And neither Larnach or Keaschall should be benched for him.

 

[rdehring]

I can't imagine any good reason for bringing him up during the next 13 days.  None of us know how the Twins will fare over the next week, plus.  Thus, no one has a clue what the FO will be doing next week.  After the deadline, his callup will depend on how he is doing and what the Twins want to do related to the CBA and maintaining an extra year of control.

[Mike Sixel]

22 minutes ago, jimmyc said:

They will appropriately leave him off the 40-man roster.  Anyone on the 40-man will be unable to play in the minors during the impending MLB strike next spring.  More than many others, he needs to play baseball.

Agreed. He's not coming up this year. 

[mnfireman]

1 hour ago, thelanges5 said:

They should give Jenkins a Pratt-like contract. 

I'm thinking Boras would be looking for Jackson Merrill-like contract...

[thelanges5]

I certainly get all the Boras talk. He has his reputation, but there are a few players that have gone against his wishes. Whether you’re talking about Jeffers/Jenkins/Boras guy, it doesn’t mean the Twins shouldn’t try. At the end of the day the players can decide for themselves.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I agree that moving Jenkins up makes sense in the context of what the Twins should be trying to accomplish the season, although I don't think now as compared to two or three weeks from now makes any sort of significant difference. This year should be about determining who can help us next year and thereafter, and whether or not the team has enough talent to be a "contender" next year or in 2028. I know we all have different different definitions of "contender". I'm talking about being in the hunt to win 85 or more games, win the Central Division, get at least one home playoff series, and have a chance to make a run in the playoffs, but I'm not talking about being a World Series favorite or something like that.  All of our decision should be filtered through that lens.

I think there is enough talent here if augmented  by two or three players to be a contender as I just defined it in 2027 and 2028. One of the players we need is one more quality bat. I've seen enough to think that Martin may be a nice complementary player but is not that bat, and I have my doubts about Roden although he hasn't had much of an opportunity yet. Jenkins may be ready to be that guy.  I'd like to see if that's true this year. We also need at least one more quality late inning reliever, and one more starting pitcher plus a healthy season from Lopez. I think our moves at the deadline should reflect those needs for next year after, not just this year, and should include providing opportunity for people we think can fill those roles.

So what should we do? I think we should strongly consider trading higher end prospects or players with more than 1.5 years of control like Detmers, Soriano, Bachman, Sentzatela, Heliot Ramos, and Jake McCarthy. I'm sure there's many more names who might be available in the right deal. I could even get behind trading a mid-level prospect for a rental starter so that we can try Matthews the bullpen to see if he could be that late inning piece. I'm leaving Prielipp in the rotation next year, although he may need to go to the bullpen this year because of the innings limits required from his previous injuries. We should use this year to figure out what we're going to be doing 2027 and 2028, which then impacts upcoming decisions on guys like Joe Ryan, Josh Bell, and Trevor Larnach. 

To me, getting Jenkins up to the Bigs fits right in with this plan. Whether the opening is caused by an injury, a demotion or trade of Alan Roden, or an upcoming trade, I would like to see him up with the big club by August 1 and given some real playing time like at least three or four games a week. Let's see if he can help the middle of the order, or if he's still a year or two away. Same for Culpepper. I actually like Ryan Kreidler at short. Unfortunately, his glove says starter but his bat says utility infielder. Can Culpepper be the starting SS next year and the year after? Is Marek Houston a better choice? I think getting Culpepper up and in the lineup to really the best and perhaps only way to find that out. Find a spot for him and a spot for Jenkins. Culpepper is probably easy if/when he's healthy because we need another infielder and losing a catcher will get us that opening. Jenkins probably requires another move regarding the outfielders we have the let's do that in the next couple of weeks and provide that opportunity.

[mickster]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

This is a simple no.  Jenkins is a Scott Boras client so an extension is dead at arrival.  We have 6 years of Jenkins and unless Jenkins is willing to take a discounted offer he will be traded or sign elsewhere.   

Truth being spoken

[IndianaTwin]

8 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed. He's not coming up this year. 

And on the slight chance he does come up, it likely won't happen before August 14. Unless altered by the CBA, if he starts 2027 on the active roster and wins the Rookie of the Year award, the Twins get an extra draft pick. Bringing him up before August 14 costs him rookie status for 2027.

 

[LA Vikes Fan]

26 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I don't understand why Boras is painted as a villain. Sure, I wouldn't want to be across the negotiating table from him, but that's not any fans concern. 

He does his job well and upsets owners. That's a win in my book. 

Agreed. Boras has a job to do. That job includes maximizing his clients' salaries and income security through guaranteed years, and putting his clients on teams they would like to play for. He does that job very well and that includes getting his clients deals with teams they are already on so they can have security and stay where they want to stay. The guy is kind of a egomaniac with a thirst for the limelight so it's easy to dislike him. Still, you have to admit that he does his job well for his clients.

By the way, just because Jeffers is represented by Boras doesn't mean Jeffers has to leave the Twins. The team just needs to pay something close to the going rate to keep him. Some Boras clients have taken less than the absolutely last dollar because they want to be at a particular place, so if Jeffers really wants to stay with Twins maybe we can get him for a little less than say the Yankees or Mets would have to pay. The issue is not Boras. It's how much the Twins are willing to pay to get Jeffers, how long they're willing to guarantee that money, and what it would take to get him to stay whether that's top of the market or a little less because he wants to be with the Twins. I think he's gone because I don't get the sense that being in Minnesota matters a lot to him one way or the other and I don't think ownership is going to be willing to pay the four or more years at $15 million or more dollars a year necessary to sign him. That's on Jeffers and ownership, not on his agent.

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

And on the slight chance he does come up, it likely won't happen before August 14. Unless altered by the CBA, if he starts 2027 on the active roster and wins the Rookie of the Year award, the Twins get an extra draft pick. Bringing him up before August 14 costs him rookie status for 2027.

 

Good catch on the rules. This does complicate things a little. I was advocating to get him up by August 1 or so. I was thinking promoting Jenkins right after the Twins do whatever it is they're going to do at the trade deadline basically. I guess waiting another 10 days to two weeks is not that big a deal so I get your point. Still, I'd like to have him up sooner rather than later.

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, mike8791 said:

Another positive in bringing up Jenkins - it would make trading Larnach more palatable.  I previously thought if the FO wanted to stay competitive, they could only afford to trade one of Larnach or Jeffers.  Our offense has too many holes to trade both.  Jeffers should be traded(unless Twins can resign him which at this point is a non-starter), but with Jenkins slotted in LF or RF, Jenkins and Roden could fill in well at the corners.  Of course, trading makes sense only if the Twins obtained near major league prospects.

I have no faith in Roden 2026  -0.3 WAR Career -0.7 

[DJL44]

22 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

I have no faith in Roden 2026  -0.3 WAR Career -0.7 

Then why would you have faith in someone performing worse than Roden in AAA?

[HarmonK03]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Then why would you have faith in someone performing worse than Roden in AAA?

How is he performing worse than Roden in St. Paul, OPS is within .50 points of Roden.  A little higher batting average, less home runs but more doubles.  That is if all you want to look at are stats.  But put the spreadsheets away and look at the players, who is the better player.  And I believe there is a consensus that Jenkins is the better player with a lot more upside potential.

[HarmonK03]

47 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

And on the slight chance he does come up, it likely won't happen before August 14. Unless altered by the CBA, if he starts 2027 on the active roster and wins the Rookie of the Year award, the Twins get an extra draft pick. Bringing him up before August 14 costs him rookie status for 2027.

 

A better idea is to get the best 26 players on your roster and I see a few players that Jenkins probably should be playing over.  Everything else is just noise.

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

How is he performing worse than Roden in St. Paul, OPS is within .50 points of Roden.  A little higher batting average, less home runs but more doubles.  That is if all you want to look at are stats.  But put the spreadsheets away and look at the players, who is the better player.  And I believe there is a consensus that Jenkins is the better player with a lot more upside potential.

Jenkins undeniably has more upside potential than Roden. I think he needs to spend more time working to realize that upside in AAA.